Walla Walla, Washington
Our friend Kevin Rodriguez deserves all the credit (and the blame) for our visit to Walla Walla, described by the New York Times as "Napa in bluejeans." This town in the southeast corner of Washington would be our last stop before Seattle (where we had to return to work), and it sounded like a good way to transition from the wilderness to the big city.
Upon arrival at our bed and breakfast, we were escorted to the door by a friendly cat named Camille. There was a picnic basket waiting in our room, with a cheese plate, fresh fruit, and a crusty loaf of bread still warm from the oven. What a wonderful welcome!
Walla Walla went from sleepy farm community to celebrated wine country practically overnight. Although the wine-making here started to flourish in the 1980's, most of the 140 wineries in Walla Walla were established within the last 20 years. The wine makers all know each other and enjoy collaborating to make good wine.
We started with Sleight of Hand Cellars, whose motto is "Serious wines without the serious attitudes." The tasting room walls were lined with LPs and tour posters. A young magician entertained us with card tricks, and the tasting room manager, between pours, shared funny stories about foot-stomping and Neil Patrick Harris (a loyal wine club member).
Our next stop was downtown Walla Walla, with cute shops and more than 30 tasting rooms! Kontos Cellars had outstanding red wines, and we had a nice chat with winemaker Cameron Kontos.
On our second day. we visited Pepper Bridge Winery's beautiful tasting room on the edge of their vineyard.
For our last tasting, we drove out to see the wineries at the Walla Walla airport. There are five "incubator" buildings for new wineries.
The Dunham Cellars tasting room was in a renovated WWII airplane hangar, and it was our favorite. We loved the big tree made from wine bottles, and the original artwork by founder Eric Dunham and his friend Dale Chihuly. We loved chatting with founder Joanne Dunham and her fiancé John, and seeing their new private tasting room. And we loved their wine!
There was so much more in Walla Walla besides wineries with friendly founders. There were excellent restaurants, and a hidden gem of a gallery at the historic Marcus Whitman Hotel. But this is already too long, so I'll leave you with this: we now understand why people love Walla Walla, and you should let us know if you plan to visit, so we can go with you.
P.S. Our Z4 was already packed full, but somehow Steve managed to stash six bottles of wine behind our seats!
